Vice President JD Vance brushed off questions about a possible 2028 Republican ticket with Secretary of State Marco Rubio after President Donald Trump floated the pair as a political force earlier this week.
“I love Marco. I think he’s a great secretary of state. He’s become a very, very dear friend. But I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now,” said Vance during a press conference on Wednesday focused on the administration’s fraud crackdown.
Trump teased a potential ticket with Vance and Rubio earlier this week, but the president did not say who would be the one to fill his shoes. Vance had previously said the media was creating “conflict” when asked in recent months about alleged tension between the pair as Washington, D.C., inches closer to 2028.
“Who likes J.D. Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio? All right. Sounds like a good ticket,” Trump said Monday, adding, “By the way, I do believe that’s a dream team.”
Vance shared that it is one of the topics he least likes to discuss when he is “having a good time and trying to do good work in the job that the American people already elected me to do.”
“If I was the American people, there are a few things that I would hate more than a person who’s barely been in one office for a year and a half, is angling for a job two and a half years down the road,” said Vance, referencing himself.
VANCE TAPPED AS ‘FRAUD CZAR’ AS TRUMP TARGETS BLUE STATES OVER TAXPAYER THEFT
A second reporter followed up during the press conference that the media was not promoting 2028 tension between the pair, as the president had directly floated the potential ticket.
“I just don’t think it sounds like the president of the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” quipped Vance in response. “I just think that’s not at all what you would expect the president to do.”
Vance added it was “natural” for Trump to joke around with him and Rubio, adding that the president has “always been fascinated by politics.”
RUBIO HEADS TO ROME WITH TRUMP’S IRAN CLASH LOOMING OVER POPE LEO, MELONI TALKS
Vance’s big initiative has been cracking down on fraud, waste, and abuse while leading the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
The press conference on Wednesday was held as Vance holds down the fort at the White House while Trump is in China for high-stakes meetings alongside administration leaders, such as Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
